While living in the Philippines we made some really great friends. One couple works for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was asked to move to South Africa after serving for three years in the Philippines. They told us that we should come visit them so we said ok. When planning for our trip to South Africa we had a layover for a few hours in Turkey, flying on Turkish Air. For an $40 extra each, we were able to turn the short layover into four nights and basically have two vacations in one. Matt again did his vacation magic and we had a fantastic itinerary. We stayed at the Hilton in Istanbul and the kids loved it. We took full advantage of the indoor swimming pool and the hammam where we had family water fights! We hired Emine Filiz through Viator.com and she put together a great package for us and made our trip enjoyable and memorable.

Day 1

We made it to Turkey and because of a terrorist attack that happened 7 weeks prior, there weren’t many tourists and that meant no long lines!

My mom’s side of the family started to plan a reunion about a year ago. At that time we were still living in the Philippines and weren’t certain that we would be back in the states. But, we were able to relocate home and attend this family reunion. The last time that Matt and I attended a family reunion for this side of the family, I had just found out that I was pregnant with Kalani. Now 13 years later we were all able to reunite and the extended family were able to meet Blake for the first time. The reunion was in Utah and this was the first time that our children had been to this state and I think that they all had a great time.

Day 1

With the weather being so lovely and no humidity I convinced my siblings and their kids to go for a walk a few hours after we landed. The kids all loved running around on the grass and just enjoying each other’s company.

My brother lives only a couple of blocks away from the Provo Temple so I took the opportunity to show our kids that temple and any others that we came across. It had been 16 years since I was last at this temple, before serving a mission in El Salvador for our church.

Since we arrived on the 4th of July, it was great to see the kids play with their cousins and use sparklers to celebrate.

Day 2

When I knew that we would be in Utah, I started the ball rolling to have a reunion for our church ward family from the Philippines. Not as many people came who said they were going to be there, but it was still fun to meet up with people who we shared time with in the Philippines.

My friend forgot about our Philippines church reunion, but we were able to meet up with her and her boys at a dinosaur museum.

As soon as we got home from the dinosaur museum we went out to dinner with my sister-in-law and her boyfriend.

We ate ice cream the Provo City Center Temple grounds and enjoy the scenery and company. A few days later we took the kids to this temple also.

Day 3

My sister is going to school to get her license to cut hair. I trusted her to cut my hair a couple of inches before we left for the family reunion.

We stayed at Camelot Resort on the Strawberry River up the Provo Canyon. The kids really enjoyed the view and were excited to see our cousin from Texas already at the resort.

One of the first things we did after unpacking was to go on a short hike with any cousins that wanted to join us.

Day 4

A much bigger group went on a longer hike that ended at an area that over looked our resort.

The kids enjoyed tubing down the river even if the water was really cold and only about 15 inches deep.

Day 5

After breakfast was a morning of crafts that my sister planned. Painting rocks that we found on our hike, Fruit Loop necklaces, Kool-Aid lip gloss, etc.

We had nearly 30 cousins participating in a Kid-Friendly Olympics that my aunt and I planned.

Mason participating in the pool noodle javelin throw.

Kalani racing against her cousin in the pool noodle hurdles.

The finale of our Kid Olympics was to have these two cousins run around with candy glued to their shirt…they were a human pinata and it only lasted about two minutes before the candy was all taken.

After family photos and dinner we had a family talent show. My sister and I performed a song we learned from a church girls camp.

Day 6

After we packed up and left the resort and grabbed some lunch, we made our way to Salt Lake City to see the temple, walk around Temple Square and meet up with a friend of ours from the Philippines.

We befriended Leslie in the Philippines and encouraged her to serve a mission. She returns home the end of this month, so we count it very fortunate that we got a VIP tour of Temple Square with her and her companions. Here we are inside the Tabernacle.

Our month of June was filled with some fun activities. Rather than write a post for each one, I decided to to just write about the highlights of the month.

It rained a lot in Texas and caused a lot of flooding. Luckily we stayed safe.

We attended Houston Exotic Reptile and Pet Show as a family one Saturday.

At the reptile show there was a big dog that Blake liked from a distance. But when we put him down next to the dog, he quickly retreated back to his mom’s arms.

One of my good friends that I have known since the 1st grade has been in Texas for work. We were able to meet up and spend an afternoon together catching up!

Mason loves to bake in the kitchen. One day we made cinnamon rolls together and then delivered them to his church teacher and neighbors.

My brother and his partner came to visit us from California for four days and we packed a lot of family time in those days.

We made the 2.5 hour drive to Waco to visit Magnolia Market. We are all fans of the HGTV show “Fixer Upper” and had a wonderful time in Waco. With rented Redbox movies for the kids to watch in the car, the drive wasn’t that bad.

After eating lunch at In-N-Out Burger, we stopped at the Dr. Pepper Museum. I have never drank Dr. Pepper, but it was fun and educational to show the kids how things use to be.

Before heading home we stopped at Harp Design Co. where we were fortunate enough to see Clint Harp outside when we arrived.

The rain let up and we had beautiful weather for family swim day.

My sister arranged to have us eat dinner at her home and then drive to her friend’s home and ride their horses. After all of the kids had a chance to ride the horses, the mommas also got a turn.

Kalani was the first one on a horse and she got the tallest horse.

Mason rode a couple of different horses and loved having Casey lead him around.

Blake was pretty happy with himself for riding a horse. He rode a second time while I was riding a horse as well.

This past school year was different for our family. We started the first semester of school attending a private school in the Philippines. The second semester we were back in the states and I was homeschooling the kids again. Life is never easy and things don’t go as you plan, but life continues and we adapt. Still, I think that our kids had an enjoyable school year and are enjoying not having to wake up at 6am every morning now.

1st semester

6th grade Classroom Without Walls activity.

Kalani in math class.

Kalani’s group project on creating a new society.

Mason with his 9th grade buddy.

Math games with a parent and classmates for Mason.

Mason’s 1st grade class.

2nd semester

We visited the ER and learned about sprains, splints, and how to use crutches.

Home Economics class and cake decorating skills.

Attending the temple monthly with other homeschool friends.

Playing volleyball

Going to reptile shows.

Visiting the Natural Science Museum.

Visiting the zoo.

Homeschool activities

Participating in theater plays with other homeschool kids.

Spending time with family and creating memories.

Now that summer is here our kids still have to keep up with their reading and math skills. And if they get too bored there is always a paper that they can write or math sheets they can do. But, we also plan on swimming and playing with cousins during the summer. These children of ours are only young for a short time and I am glad that I get to spend most of my days with them watching them learn and grow.

My brother Robbie got his Master’s Degree from University of Southern California. He has been orchestrating a family reunion type weekend for his graduation and then a trip to Disneyland. So this past weekend it finally happened. Nine out of the ten Limary children were able to make it down to celebrate his graduation and spend a day together in Disneyland (one brother is serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Chicago right now). It was wonderful to see my siblings again and meet a few nieces that were born while we lived overseas.

Day 1

We made it to USC campus

Sisters all together again

Blake would take handful of his cousins snacks and then feed her some one by one

Farley family with the graduate

Everyone who made it to USC gradutation

After graduation we all hung out together having a swim party, BBQ and game night.

We had a birthday cake for one of my brothers. Since the sun went down it was getting cold and Matt was trying to warm up by candle light.

Blake found his cousin’s stuffed animals and was content to play with them for a while.

Day 2

This is the biggest group photo that we were able to capture. One family was still at the hotel and Kalani was off with her uncle and grandma already.

Matt proposed to me in front of the castle… Apparently he’s had some practice 🙂

We got to meet Kylo Ren.

One crazy group at the jungle safari.

Mason is so good with his baby cousins.

During lunch my sister’s tongue started to swell after eating something. The restaurant took that very seriously and got a nurse to come check her out (we all ate for free!).

This was the only photo that we have of Kalani at Disneyland. We didn’t see her again until after the night parade.

Mason was able to participate in the Jedi Training.

He got to fight Darth Vader!

We had a great time going on rides and making crazy faces.

We watched a few parades since babies were sleeping and/or we wanted to sit down.

Day 3

We got to walk around the Newport Beach temple grounds.

We made a stop at the Reptile Zoo. A show that we watch is filmed here often.

Blake HAD to hold the ball python.

My sisters and our family boarded a plane and headed back home after a fun weekend.